Affiliated Commission of

Scientific Associate of

ICO Awards

ICO Prizes and Awards

ICO, the International Commission for Optics awards annually the "ICO Prize", the ICO Galileo Galilei Award and the ICTP/ICO Gallieno Denardo Award. The latter was established jointly with the "Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics" (ICTP). ICO also awards annually the IUPAP prize in optics.

ICO Prize:

Rules applicable to the ICO Prize:

Sketch of the original coin for the Ernst Abbe medal, donated by the Carl Zeiss foundation.

ICO established in 1982 the ICO Prize, to be given each year to an individual who has made a noteworthy contribution to optics, published submitted for publication before he or she has reached the age of 40. (Specifically, the Prize winner must not have reached the age of 40 before December 31 of the year for which the Prize is awarded). The character of the work of successive Prize recipients should preferably alternate between predominantly experimental or technological and predominantly theoretical. The "noteworthy" contribution in optics is measured chiefly by its impact (past or possibly future) on the field of optics generally, opening a subfield or significantly expanding an established subfield in research or technology.

The Prize includes:

a citation,

a cash award of an amount established in the triennial budget of ICO, and the invitation to present an invited paper and receive the award at the next ICO Congress or another ICO meeting mutually agreed to by the bureau and the award winner.

Every year, the ICO Prize Committee issues a call for nominations that is published in the ICO Newsletter, receives the nominations and selects the recipients for approval by the Bureau at its next meeting. The award needs not be made each year if the Prize Committee so chooses. The Prize is preferably given to an individual, but it can be shared by two persons. Eligibility for the Prize is not excluded by previous prizes awarded to the individual. The selected Prize winner is then announced in the ICO Newsletter and, as appropriate, in one or more optics journals. The prize will be presented at the next appropriate major ICO meeting and the Prize winner will be expected to deliver an invited talk at that Meeting. Posters of the Prize are also available under request to ICO Secretariat.

Additional general information about the ICO Prize:

The cash award presently carries an amount of US$2000 and US$1000 for travel expenses. In addition to the rules adopted by ICO, the Carl Zeiss foundation has generously agreed to donate an Ernst Abbe medal to the winner.

The award winners to this date are :

1982: Antoine Labeyrie, France

1983: James R. Fienup, USA

1984: J. Christopher Dainty, U.K.

1985: Sergei I. Stepanov, USSR

1986: Kensuke Ikeda, Japan

1987: Alain Aspect, France

1988: no prize bore the number of the year 1988. The 1988 prize was changed to 1989 in order to coincide with the year of the award

IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics:

Rules applicable to the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics:

IUPAP Young Scientist Medal

In 2005 the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) created the Young Scientist Prizes for its commissions. The international Commission of Optics (ICO), as an Affiliated Commission of IUPAP, decided in 2008 to adopt the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics. The IUPAP prize in optics will be awarded annually through ICO to a scientist who has made noteworthy contributions to applied optics and photonics during a maximum of 8 years of research experience after having earned a PhD degree. Career interruptions will not be counted as time of research experience.

The Prize includes:

The IUPAP Young Scientist Medal with the name and discipline (optics) of the awardee engraved on the back.

A citation.

A 1000€ award as established by IUPAP.

The Prize is awarded at a major ICO meeting, where the recipient is expected to deliver an invited presentation.

Additional general information about the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics:

ICO Galileo Galilei Medal

The ICO Galileo Galilei Award contributes to one of the essential missions of the International Commission for Optics: recognize the promotion of Optics under difficult circumstances. The award was established by the 1993 General Assembly of ICO and has been awarded annually since 1994.

Rules applicable to the Galileo Galilei Medal:

1 - The Galileo Galilei medal of ICO is awarded for outstanding contributions to the field of optics which are achieved under comparatively unfavorable circumstances.

2.1 - The outstanding contributions in the field of optics should refer to:- fundamental scientific questions or problems, or- research or development of optical methods or devices, or- scientific or technical leadership in the establishment of regional optical centers.

2.2 - "Comparatively unfavorable circumstances" refers to difficult economic or social conditions or lack of access to scientific or technical facilities or sources of information.

2.3 - The outstanding contributions must be documented, if applicable, by internationally acknowledged publications. Exceptionally, reports can be considered, provided that they are made available to the Award Committee.

3 - The award is normally given to one person. Exceptionally, however, if a collective contribution is judged to be worthy of the award a team of several persons may be selected.

4 - Every year, the ICO Committee for the Regional Development of Optics issues a call for nominations that is published in the ICO Newsletter, receives the nominations and selects the winner for approval by the Bureau at its next meeting. The award need not be given every year if the Bureau so chooses.

5 - The award consists of:a) the Galileo Galilei Medal, a silver medal with the portrait of Galileo Galilei donated by the Italian Society of Optics and Photonics, SIOF (Società Italiana di Ottica e Fotonica).b) assistance in travel to present an invited paper and receive the award at the next ICO Congress or another ICO meeting mutually agreed to by the Bureau and the award winner,c) a cash donationc) special attention and appropriate measures of ICO to support the future activities of the award winner.

The prize will be presented at the next appropriate major ICO meeting and the Prize winner will be expected to deliver an invited talk at that Meeting. Applications should follow the instructions below and nominators are encouraged to clearly documents all aspects of the nomination, including:

the characterisation of the scientific work,

the activities in management and organisation in the applicant's homeland,

the cooperation with and support of organisations outside the homeland,

the nature of the organisation that the candidate is working for in his/her homeland,

the characterisation of the "unfavourable circumstances" under which the work was performed.

ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denardo Award

Rules applicable to the ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denardo Award:

ICO, the International Commission for Optics, and ICTP, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, have agreed to establish a joint prize, called the ICO/ICTP Award. It is reserved for young researchers from developing countries (as defined by the United Nations), who conduct their research in a developing country. The award will be given to scientists less than 40 years old (on December 31 of the year for which the award is given), who are active in research in Optics and have contributed to the promotion of research activities in Optics in their own or another developing country. While this web site has complete information, the following should be appropriate to prepare a nomination.

The award consists of the following:

The ICO gives a cash amount of US$1000 and a diploma.

The ICTP invites the winner to attend a three-week-long Winter College at Trieste at the next appropriate opportunity, and to give a seminar on his/her work when appropriate. ICTP will pay for travel and living expenses.

The award will be presented to the winner at Trieste in the presence of representatives of ICO and ICTP. The award is given to one person every year. The winner is selected on the basis of nominations received by the Award Committee in response to a call published by both ICO and ICTP. The nominations must be documented with a complete curriculum vitae including a list of publications and selected reprints (no more than three) as well as a complete employment history and a description of the nominee's achievements for the promotion of research activity in developing countries. In September 2007, the ICTP and ICO agreed to define the ICO/ICTP Award as ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denardo Award to honor the memory and legacy of the late Prof. Gallieno Denardo.

The ICTP invites the winner to attend a three weeks Winter College at Trieste at the next appropriate opportunity, and to give a seminar on his/her work when appropriate. ICTP will pay for travel and living expenses.

The Award Committee is chaired (for the term October 1, 2017 - September 30, 2020) by Prof. Mourad Zghal, University of Carthage, Tunisia. e-mail :mourad.zghal@supcom.tn. Other members of the Committee are Prof. A. Consortini of University of Florence, Italy; Dr M. Danailov of Syncrotrone Trieste, Italy; Prof. J. Niemela of ICTP, Trieste, Italy,; and Prof. A. Wagué, University Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar,Senegal. Nominations are to be sent to the Award Committee Chair, Prof. M. Zghal, with copy to Prof. Joseph Niemela, Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, ICTP, Strada Costiera 11, 34151 Trieste, Italy, niemela@ictp.it.

Nomination instructions for all ICO awards

Nominations should document all sections listed belowFull name of nomineeNominator's name and addressNominator's signature, dateDate of birth of nomineeBusiness addressAcademic background, education (college or university, location, major field, degree, year awarded)Academic honorsEmployment history (position, organization, duties, dates)Publications, patents, unpublished reports, papers presented at meetings, etc. (attach a list of those you deem pertinent)Honors and awards.Scientific achievements for which the candidate is nominated for this award: attach a separate sheet).

Notes:

Nominators are encouraged to generate supporting letters; each supporting letter must come from a different country or ICO Territory and bring additional information on the case. The number of supporting letters will not be a selection criterion.

The recipient will be expected to give a presentation based upon his/her achievements at the next appropriate ICO Meeting. The ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denardo Award winner will be expected to give a presentation at the next appropriate ICTP/ICO event.